Welcome to Private Self Defence, offering private self defence classes in Leeds, West Yorkshire. My name is Tim Halloran and I’ve had an interest in self defence and martial arts for over 30 years.
My studies originally beginning with Judo at age 8 after my father took me and my brother to a class. I later studied Karate before finding Tae kwon do and then Wing Chun Kung Fu at age 19 which I have stuck with since. I also have studied Aikido, Iaido, Ninjitsu and Filipino Martial Arts (Kali).
I’m currently training in Kali and Aikido on top of my regular Wing Chun teaching.
Motivation
My main reason for studying Martial Arts in the early years was for self defence purposes and I felt Wing Chun kung fu offered one of the best training regimens which could be learned in the shortest possible time.
It’s also incredibly practical as a self defence method – using principles of economy of motion and minimum movement. This makes it easy to learn quickly and very effective too.
Chi sau (sticky hands) in particular I realised was an incredible strategy for intuitive learning. It allows you to understand movements and reactions based on hand contact and learned automatic responses through touch.
Bruce Lee even took Chi Sau from Wing Chun for his own style (Jeet Kune Do) because he thought it was so effective.
Former Stuntman
After meeting a stuntman in my 20’s (who had worked on the James Bond films), I trained to become a stuntman, using the martial arts as one of my skills needed in order to join the British Stunt Register.
I worked on a number of films and TV shows. Checkout my IMDB page here.
If you’re interested in organising a self defence training plan, please get in touch using contact page. We can organise classes around your work timetable and create a suitable syllabus according to your needs.
My main focus in my own personal training is Wing Chun Kung Fu, with over 30 years experience of this style and from two different lineages. I am also learning from Kali and Aikido teachers.
I teach martial arts classes in Leeds on a Monday and Bradford on a Wednesday evening.